Corporate
War on the People

Multinationals Face Legal Challenges—at Last

Halliburton:
In February Halliburton and its former subsidiary Kellogg Brown and
Root (KBR) agreed to pay $579 million in fines for bribing Nigerian
officials. This is the largest fine ever paid by US companies in a
foreign corruption case.

Halliburton admitted it paid $182 million to Nigerian government
officials over a 10-year period to win a six billion-dollar
contract. KBR was awarded four contracts between 1995 and 2004 to
pipe raw natural gas to a specially-built plant and convert it to
liquified gas.

The US
court charged that KBR chairman Jack Stanley authorized a 23
million-dollar bribe to a consultant in Gibraltar to grease the
palms of Nigerian officials. Stanley faces up to seven years in
prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate US
anti-bribery laws.

Blackwater:
The notorious U.S. military contractor Blackwater (now called
Xe) has been sued in the U.S. And some of its
mercenaries have been federally indicted for killing unarmed
civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

The widow of a
32-year-old Iraqi sued Blackwater in a federal court. She charges
that “on Christmas eve 2006, a highly intoxicated and heavily armed
Xe-Blackwater employee named Andrew Moonen, shot and killed
Raheem Khalaf Sa’adoon, for no reason….Although Xe-Blackwater
learned of their employee’s crime shortly after it occurred,
Xe-Blackwater acted, and continues to act, in conspiracy with Moonen
to evade any accountability whatsoever…. Xe-Blackwater
continued to rehire and deploy mercenaries known to have killed
innocents.”

The lawsuit also
alleges Xe-Blackwater rushed to get the agent out of Iraq,
and destroyed documents in the case.

Xe-Blackwater
was banned from working in Iraq in January. This was the result of a
2007 incident in which guards killed 17 civilians and wounded 20.
They opened fire with automatic weapons in Baghdad while escorting
an American diplomatic convoy.

Stop Private
Militaries

Blackwater recently
changed its name to Xe to avoid further public scrutiny. We can
keep the pressure on these mercenaries. Contact your elected
representatives at the DC switchboard 202-224-3121. Demand that they
co-sponsor HR 897, HR 2740, and HR 4102. These bills call for more
accountability and an end to all mercenary armies

GM,
Ford, Daimler, and IBM: In
April victims of South African Apartheid won the right
to sue GM, Ford, Daimler, and IBM“for aiding
and abetting torture ... extra judicial killing, and apartheid.”
A NY federal judge, Shira Scheindlin ruled that the corporations can
be tried under US laws, They allow charges of human rights abuses
abroad to be heard in US courts.

Scheindlin stated: "The
level of wilful blindness in the face of crimes violating the law of
nations cannot defeat an otherwise clear showing of knowledge. These
companies knew that the assistance they provided would directly and
substantially support apartheid."

Khulumani, a South African organisation
that helps apartheid victims, is one of the plaintiffs.

Ousted Bank Leaders Still on Gravy Train, but
not “Retained”

Banks on the dole claimed they needed taxpayers to pay scandalous
bonuses to “retain” skilled bosses. But in fact most were neither
skilled nor retained.

Citigroup posted a $18.7 billion loss last year. So they
got a $52 billion bailout. CEO Vikram Pandit took over
from CharlesPrince in Dec 2007. He eliminated 39,000
jobs.

•
Charles O. Prince was retired in Nov. 2007 as Citigroup
Inc.’s CEO. Citigroup paid him $66.8 million in the three previous
years. The bank gave him a $10.4 million bonus for his last 10
months on the job and perks worth about $1.5 million a year. This
includes an office, assistant, car and driver and any resulting
income taxes. These benefits last for five years or until he gets
another full-time job.

•
Michael Klein is former Citigroup investment banking
head. He got a $34.3 million exit package in July 2008. He
also has a free office and secretary.

•
John Reed resigned as co-CEO of Citigroup in 2000. He
received a $5 million parting bonus and a $2 million annual
“retirement benefit.” He also got financial planning services for
up to five years, a car and driver, an office and secretary for as
long as he wants.

•
Sanford I. Weill retired as chairman of Citigroup in
2006. He ended a 10-year consulting contract with the bank after
just three years. He got a $1 million-a-year retirement pension,
consulting fees of $3,846 a day for up to 45 days a year, a car and
driver, an office, private security, financial planning fees and
medical and dental coverage. The bank will reimburse him for income
taxes owed on the perks. He received $69 million in salary, bonus
and other pay during his last three working years. He had use of
company aircraft, which he gave up in February.

Merrilll Lynch had to sell itself last year to Bank of
America. It is providing an office and assistant to former
CEO Stan O’Neal for three years. The costs are absorbed by
Bank of America. Bank of America took $45 billion
of bailout funds and $118 billion of asset guarantees.

Kennedy Thompson was ousted last year as Wachovia’s CEO.
Wells Fargo bought out Wachovia on Dec. 31. They are
providing Thompson with an office and assistant for three years.
Wells Fargo received $25 billion in bailout funds.

AT&T Looks Out for Executives at Expense of
Workers

Despite record
profits, AT&T keeps pushing for cuts in quality jobs, health care
benefits and standard of living increases for its workers. They
claim these cuts are necessary because of the poor economy.
But last year AT&T made $12.9 billion in profits. This is
almost a billion more than the previous year.

CWA’s
bargaining committees trying to reach an agreement with AT&T. They
need 10,000 signatures on their petition of support. To sign go to:
www.unionvoice.org/attdowhatsright/ibidi7447wbn8dd.

You Don’t Get What You Pay For

Circuit City
fumbled their company into bankruptcy. They cut 34,000 jobs. Then
they demanded executive bonuses from the US bankruptcy court. Next
they held a liquidation sale. They warned customers that all sales
were final.

Customers were not allowed to open and check merchandise. After they
purchased it, they found out they had bought damaged goods.

NYC Did Not Use MA Money to Help Poor

New York City
may no have used any of its $1 billion in federal Medicaid stimulus
money for actual services to help the poor. The City says it used
the money to close up budget holes. It refuses to reveal how the
money was actually spent.

Mayor
Bloomberg has drastically cut supportive housing for New Yorkers
with AIDS. He has proposed a $1.8 million cut to supportive housing
programs. This would affect Scatter Site I and congregate housing.
It proposes eliminating Scatter II housing completely. These cuts
would prove devastating to thousands of low-income New Yorkers with
AIDS who rely on these services.

An
additional $74 million in federal stimulus funding (called the
Homelessness Prvention and Rapid Re-Housing Program) could prevent
AIDS housing cuts. The funding was allocated to the City HUD. It
will be administered through the Dept. of Homeless Services. It is
unclear if this money will be available for AIDS housing, which is
run through the Human Resources Administration.